Driving Back Government Overreach In Wyoming

February 3, 2014

Hours before Barack Obama gave his monotonously predictable 2014 “State of the Union” charade, an event of potentially enormous consequences occurred in the State of Wyoming, which reflects a groundswell of sentiments from the American Heartland. By a three-to-two vote, the Wyoming Supreme Court overturned Senate File 104, an outrage perpetrated by the state legislature in 2013, which had negated the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and consigned its powers and duties to an appointee of the governor.

Immediately on its passage last year, Cindy Hill, the current Superintendent of Public Instruction, had filed suit seeking to have the measure overturned. Though previously upheld by a lower court, the Wyoming Supreme Court completely nixed this outrageous governmental power grab. For the moment, the people of Wyoming can celebrate victory over a contemptible effort to demolish the rightful separation of powers, as inarguably spelled out in the Wyoming Constitution, and which is itself deliberately reflective of the same concept in the U.S. Constitution.

While many throughout the nation have remained blissfully unaware of the ongoing drama in Wyoming, this issue is of enormous consequence to the good people of the Cowboy State. Furthermore, the principles involved could generate far reaching fallout across the rest of the nation. On that basis alone it is worth the watching. Though it is far too soon to declare victory in the battle to rein in an out of control state government, a fundamental course correction is now a possibility, which would enormously benefit the citizenry on several fronts.

For starters, Superintendent Hill can shortly resume her programs which were designed to bolster academic performance among Wyoming children, and which enjoyed enormous success on that front. Improving education for the children of the state was and still remains her top priority. To her dismay, these sentiments have not been generally shared by many entrenched bureaucrats and their political accomplices, who long ago recognized the universal appeal of promoting “education,” ostensibly for the sake of the children, while exploiting it to gain access to the largest money pipeline in the state budget. And from that pipeline, far too many in government, whose only asset was having the right connections, could benefit personally, without returning anything positive to those young people in the classrooms whose educational well-being was supposed to be paramount.

Yet the impact of the High Court’s decision will ultimately reach far beyond the state education department. From its inception, SF104 was a crucial component of a significantly larger plan to further subjugate Wyoming schools to such despicable federal encroachments as Barack Obama’s “Common Core” program. Of course that underhanded effort to reinvent public schools as indoctrination centers for the leftist agenda came with plenty of federal dollars dangled as an incentive to comply with it. And among those in government whose goal it is to reap as much monetary gain from the system as possible, Superintendent Hill, with her aversion to federal entanglements and her focus on teaching children, posed an infuriating roadblock.

Consequently, the backers of SF104 recognized Hill as a political enemy and after having removed her official educational authority, shamelessly pursued her personal destruction. In this area as well, their sordid efforts have been completely thwarted. Several audits of her department have not only failed to turn up even the slightest indications of wrongdoing, they have instead proven that the conduct in her office has been above reproach. Another pathetic politically motivated attack was a fishing expedition contrived by RINO governor Matt Mead, and headed by lawyer Cathy MacPherson. In like manner with the many financial audits, the MacPherson committee failed to unearth any plausible evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Hill or her staff, despite embarrassingly juvenile efforts to concoct and magnify inconsequential events into defining breaches of propriety.

On the political front, the ongoing drama in Wyoming and the new twist resulting from the State Supreme Court decision, promise to become even more interesting as time goes on. Unwilling to accept the chicanery of the entrenched “Ruling Class” or to accept their antics sitting down, Hill made the decision to run against incumbent Mead for the governorship of Wyoming in 2014. If successful in her bid for the state’s highest office, she would be in a far better position to clean up the thoroughly corrupted and ethically compromised departments within state government. Of course those caterwauling the loudest of the menace she represents are essentially spotlighting their culpability in the bloated and exorbitantly expensive mess that too much of the Wyoming state government has become.

Interestingly, key players who spearheaded the education department takeover have been tight-lipped in the wake of the State Supreme Court decision. Governor Mead directed his comments to the administrative aspects of restoring Hill to her rightful post, while “Republican” House Speaker Tom Lubnau declined comment. And according to a news report of the high court’s decision, many of the bill’s sponsors likewise “declined comment.”

Those terse rejoinders do little to cloak the abject panic undoubtedly ensuing among the Wyoming Republican “Establishment” behind closed doors. Clearly, the proponents of this transparent governmental power-grab had no expectation that both Superintendent Hill and the people who elected her in by an overwhelming majority in 2010 would be so unshakable in their defiance of such brazen efforts by the legislature and the governor to nullify their vote. Having invested their political fortunes (and more) in the expectation that the firestorm would quickly die down, these hapless politicians began to get nervous as it became evident that the citizenry was not going to passively submit to this subterfuge. Hence the relentless efforts of the ruling class to regain its esteem by discrediting Hill, all of which have been properly interpreted by the Wyoming people as proof of complicity.

Amid all of the celebration over the January 28 court decision, it must be understood that this milestone does not represent total victory, but should rather be construed as a clarion call to stay the course. The self-serving political establishment, whether in Wyoming, across America, or inside the Beltway will not passively acquiesce to a challenge from the lowly peasantry. If Wyomingites, or any Americans intend to see their nation restored to its constitutional foundations, the struggle to that end must be enduring and uncompromising. But under such auspices they will prevail.

Christopher G. Adamo is a resident of southeastern Wyoming and has been involved in state and local politics for many years. He writes for several prominent conservative websites, and has written for regional and national magazines. He is currently the Chief Editorial Writer for The Proud Americans, an advocacy group for America’s seniors, and for all Americans. His contact information and article archives can be found at www.chrisadamo.com, and he can be followed on Twitter @CGAdamo.